The stock market indices rallied for a fourth day in a row Thursday and broke through key overhead resistance, at least short-term, at 2300 on the Nasdaq 100, although the S&P 500 closed right at 1320 resistance. So, we’ll have to see if we get a follow-through tomorrow.

The day started out with a gap up,then a strong early morning run that took it to the highs for the morning at around 11:30 am.Then they pulled back, consolidated for several hours,but were unable to break down successfully, retested intraday support a couple times, then rallied back into the close, and backed off in the last 10 minutes.

Net on the day, the Dow was up 152.92 at 12,414.34, the S&P 500 up 13.23 at 1320.64, and Nasdaq 100 up 30.64 at 2325.07.

Advance-declines were 22 to 8 positive on the New York Stock Exchange, and 18 to 7 positive on Nasdaq. Up/down volume was 3 1/2 to 1 positive on New York on total volume of just under 1 billion shares. Nasdaq traded nearly 1.85-6 billion and had a 5 to 1 positive ratio on advancing volume over declining volume.

So, it was a solid day for the technicals today.

TheTechTrader.com board had quite a few stocks that had a big day today. Some of the stocks that popped included RiT Technologies Ltd. (RITT) up 2.01 to 8.83, Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) 59 cents to 42.21, and Unilife Corporation (UNIS) 36 cents to 5.18, which was a new 5-week high.

Point-plus gainers included Molycorp, Inc. (MCP) up 4.04 to 61.06, USANA Health Sciences Inc. (USNA) 2.29 to 31.28, eBay Inc. (EBAY) 1.41 to 32.27, and Spreadtrum Communications Inc. (SPRD), which snapped back 2.00 to 15.76, up 14.5%.

In addition, Hansen Medical, Inc. (HNSN) gained 40 cents to 3.41, up 13%, and Asia Entertainment & Resources Ltd. (AERL) 85 cents to 7.81, up 12%. Genetic Technologies Ltd. (GENE) jumped 69 cents to 6.92, up 11%, and 8x8 Inc. (EGHT) 44 cents to 4.89, up 10%.

Large-cap stocks were firm but not spectacular, with Apple Inc. (AAPL) up just 1.63 to 335.67, International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) 1.01 to 171.55, Goldman Sachs (GS) barely up at 56 cents to 133.09, and SodaStream International Ltd. (SODA) up 1.07 to 60.81.

Other gainers of note included Tesla Motors, Inc. (TSLA), one of our swing trades, up 84 cents to 29.13, along with NXP Semiconductors NV (NXPI) up 1.42 to 26.73, OmniVision Technologies Inc. (OVTI) 93 cents to 34.81, Global Crossing Ltd. (GLBC) 61 cents to 38.38, and Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (AVL) 43 cents to 6.95.

On the downside, the leading loser was LSB Industries Inc. (LXU) that got hit back for 2.08 to 42.92, and Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ONXX) lost 1.02 to 35.30.

Stepping back and reviewing the hourly chart patterns, the indices had a gap up at the opening, followed by a strong run, a midday consolidation, and then another run at nominal new highs in the afternoon before pulling back slightly at the close.

Yet, it was a positive session today with the indices sharply higher, and now four consecutive strong gains in a row.

Harry Boxer is a technical consultant to many Wall Street hedge funds and large institutional traders, and author of TheTechTrader.com.